I Ate Lasagna and Garfuccinos at the New Garfield-Themed Restaurant in Toronto

“Partially to blame on America’s tendency to eclipse Canada’s cultural impact, the Toronto restaurant scene is relatively young and still establishing itself as a destination. We’re always a bit behind on anything trendy (oat milk only just arrived), but mostly as a city — we just don’t know who we are yet. Are we New York, but nicer? Chicago, but more fun? Who knows. Somehow, though, Toronto has found itself in the perfect position to become the first ever city in North America to get a Garfield-licensed (not branded, as I soon learned) restaurant: GarfieldEats.”

 

Sarah Hagi – Food & Wine – June 2019

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Raped twice by the same cop

“Elizabeth had no expectations when she opened her email on a Monday morning in early February. But the words she read in the message received at 9:05am struck fear through her. As she stared at the screen, disbelief escalated into panic. ‘To date I have not heard back from you. After discussions with our Director, our investigation will be concluded, and the [rape] kits obtained for evidence will be destroyed.’ Elizabeth was raped not once, but twice, by the same man: a cop with Halifax Regional Police. In both incidents, the officer was on-duty.”

Maggie Rahr – Halifax Examiner – June 2019

Learning to Forgive My Distant Father

“Each of us walks the world in camouflage. Each of us can be a mystery to ourselves, never mind other people. I’m sure I baffled my father just as he baffled me. He died more than two decades ago, and as the natural, necessary process of forgetting takes hold, any picture I draw of him becomes an exercise in self–portraiture. There are some things I can’t forget. But there’s much I struggle to remember. The work compels me to blend my own features with his.”

 

Mark Abley – The Walrus – January 2019

The Russian spies who raised us

“Ed was standing in that same bedroom on June 29, 2010, getting dressed for a treadmill run at the gym downstairs. Pauline was in the kitchen, eating breakfast with her morning newspaper. The top story on the front page that Tuesday was the stuff of Hollywood scripts: the FBI had busted a group of deep-cover Russian spies operating on U.S. soil—including some who had stolen the identities of dead Canadian children. Pauline froze as she read one of the names: Tracey Lee Ann Foley.”

Michael Friscolanti – Maclean’s – August 2017

Why Bribery Still Works in Canadian Politics

“Here in Canada, corporate influence on democracy is as old as our political system itself. Our very first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, resigned in disgrace after newspapers revealed that he’d not only accepted a bribe but actively pursued it. A political ‘donation’ of $360,000 had apparently been made in exchange for a promised multi-million-dollar contract to build Canada’s first transcontinental railroad. The public backlash was swift, leading not only to Macdonald’s resignation but to the collapse of his Conservative government.”

Dave Meslin – The Walrus – May 2019

Taking Back the Neighbourhood

“When he moved into a 1960s-era northside bungalow in Lethbridge six years ago, Clint Russnaik liked his new neighbourhood. It was a ‘great place,’ he says, somewhere where “nothing bad happened.” Indeed, the wartime houses and large elms on his street recall a time when people talked about the upcoming summer fair, not drug dealers.”

 

Jeff Doherty – Alberta Views – May 2019

D-Day confidential

“Half an hour after they had set foot on French soil on D-Day, Sapper John Schaupmeyer and his fellow combat engineers remained stranded on the beach, pinned down by German machine guns, mortars and artillery. From the cover of a seawall, they saw an LCI, one of the larger models of landing craft, touch ground. Soldiers aboard tried to disembark but the rough waves tangled up their gangway. Trapped on the LCI deck, the men came under enemy fire. At that moment, one of the combat engineers, Sapper Walter Coveyduck, left the seawall’s protection to go save the men of the LCI.”

Tu Thanh Ha – The Globe and Mail – June 2019